Review by rj_dechicio -- Wonks by William Reese Hamilton
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rj_dechicio
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- Latest Review: Wonks by William Reese Hamilton
Review by rj_dechicio -- Wonks by William Reese Hamilton
[Following is a volunteer review of "Wonks" by William Reese Hamilton.]
The first lines of Wonks said it best, “When the big historic tales get told, this might be a part they let fall through the cracks. So let me fill you in.” William Reese Hamilton’s novel gave an illustrative account of a lesser-known WWII story and painted a picture of what life was like for the thousands of people forced to live in the Santo Tomas Internment Camp. The story follows young Johnny Oldfield as he deals with daily life in a prison camp that has increasingly less contact with the outside world as war wages on around him.
Wonks is a tale with palpable emotion and extremely unique characters. The reader can feel the sense of community and relaxation when the characters sit around and listen to one of Harry’s stories, and the reader cannot help but feel the stress and anxiety right along with the characters when they interact with their strict Japanese captors. The blend of cultures and economic standings of the residents of Santo Tomas make for a cast of characters that all have something different to contribute to society within the camp, and they all have something different to contribute to the story as well.
This book was extremely well edited, and the characters and quick succession of events all contribute to what is an overall very raw and exciting story. Because of this, I would give Wonks 3 out of 4 stars, as opposed to just 2 stars. The story was very entertaining because of the quirks Johnny is quick to point out, yet it still maintains its integrity and does not downplay the gravity of the situation. The reason I withheld the 4th star is because the writing was so heavy with WWII lingo and geographically specific slang that it was hard to decipher as a modern reader.
The WWII era vocabulary is a double-edged sword. On one side it contributed to the world building of the story and made it feel like a very authentic account of events, but on the other side, there were large sections of text that were nearly incomprehensible without outside aid. I think having to stop and research while reading really detracted from the natural pacing of the book and hindered the reader from being able to fully engage with the text. Wonks could have benefitted from streamlining the WWII vocabulary or embedding more context clues into the text to explain the terms.
Because the language used took a lot of effort to decipher I would not recommend this book to anyone younger than 14. Along with the specific vocabulary that would make it difficult for a younger audience to read, there are several scenes depicting violence and traumatic events that might not be suitable for students yet to enter high school. While I think that Wonks might be too intense for some young readers, it is categorized as a Young Adult novel for a reason. Following Johnny and his friends, deemed “wonks” by his mother as they acted like the wild dogs in China, is a historical coming of age story appealing to teenagers transitioning to adulthood.
******
Wonks
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
The first lines of Wonks said it best, “When the big historic tales get told, this might be a part they let fall through the cracks. So let me fill you in.” William Reese Hamilton’s novel gave an illustrative account of a lesser-known WWII story and painted a picture of what life was like for the thousands of people forced to live in the Santo Tomas Internment Camp. The story follows young Johnny Oldfield as he deals with daily life in a prison camp that has increasingly less contact with the outside world as war wages on around him.
Wonks is a tale with palpable emotion and extremely unique characters. The reader can feel the sense of community and relaxation when the characters sit around and listen to one of Harry’s stories, and the reader cannot help but feel the stress and anxiety right along with the characters when they interact with their strict Japanese captors. The blend of cultures and economic standings of the residents of Santo Tomas make for a cast of characters that all have something different to contribute to society within the camp, and they all have something different to contribute to the story as well.
This book was extremely well edited, and the characters and quick succession of events all contribute to what is an overall very raw and exciting story. Because of this, I would give Wonks 3 out of 4 stars, as opposed to just 2 stars. The story was very entertaining because of the quirks Johnny is quick to point out, yet it still maintains its integrity and does not downplay the gravity of the situation. The reason I withheld the 4th star is because the writing was so heavy with WWII lingo and geographically specific slang that it was hard to decipher as a modern reader.
The WWII era vocabulary is a double-edged sword. On one side it contributed to the world building of the story and made it feel like a very authentic account of events, but on the other side, there were large sections of text that were nearly incomprehensible without outside aid. I think having to stop and research while reading really detracted from the natural pacing of the book and hindered the reader from being able to fully engage with the text. Wonks could have benefitted from streamlining the WWII vocabulary or embedding more context clues into the text to explain the terms.
Because the language used took a lot of effort to decipher I would not recommend this book to anyone younger than 14. Along with the specific vocabulary that would make it difficult for a younger audience to read, there are several scenes depicting violence and traumatic events that might not be suitable for students yet to enter high school. While I think that Wonks might be too intense for some young readers, it is categorized as a Young Adult novel for a reason. Following Johnny and his friends, deemed “wonks” by his mother as they acted like the wild dogs in China, is a historical coming of age story appealing to teenagers transitioning to adulthood.
******
Wonks
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Wonks by William Reese Hamilton
